Days Gone By

There is a place called Rockville, Missouri, and the road into town looks like this:

According to the census numbers taken in 2000, it had a population of 162.  At its peak, some 50 or 60 years ago, it was a city of approximately 400.  The small-town life of Rockville was akin to countless other places across the country, almost stereotypical in its relative isolation.  There was a schoolhouse, a grocery store, a church, a pool hall, and a creek.  There was humidity, bugs, grain silos, fireworks, and rats.  The barbershop and post office were ten miles to the south in a neighboring town.

An association of simplicity is too often attributed to these towns, in those days gone by.  Life in a small town was no less difficult than life in a metropolis.  People rose early, went to work and school, came home, ate dinner, and slogged off to bed.  The stress of responsibility, finance, and the unknowable future weighed just as heavily on the sunburnt heads and shoulders of the townsfolk of Rockville as they did upon the suited, hurried salesman in St. Louis.  The difference between Rockville and Elsewhere, USA was a simple one:  It was my father's home.

Stories from Rockville will be presented here at my leisure, and in no particular chronological order.  Many are important and unique moments from his childhood, and are therefore important to me.  The stories may not be delivered in a timely fashion, but they will presented without embellishment.

Most of the time.

A Tale of Two Teams

In 2007, the Colorado Rockies incinerated their opponents in the month of September and were the National League's wild card representative in the playoffs.  The streak continued through the divisional and championship series, sweeping both the Phillies and Diamondbacks, respectively, but were then promptly put out to pasture when they faced the Red Sox in the World Series.  Some statistics from the 2007 regular season (all numbers taken from www.baseball-reference.com):

-Their primary position players (excluding the pitching staff) posted a team batting average of .300, with Matt Holliday leading the way at .340.
-Six players reached double-digit home run totals, again with Matt Holliday leading the way at 36.
-The team had two pitchers post double-digit winning seasons: Jeff Francis with 17, Josh Fogg with 10.
-The six listed starting pitchers for the season posted a combined 4.47 ERA.

In comparison, the 2009 Rockies (I'll leave the 2008 season out of this, thank you very much) currently have the National League wild card, with a three and a half game lead over the San Fransisco Giants.  I'll offer the same statistics, with the differences in bold.

-Their primary position players (excluding the pitching staff) have posted a team batting average of .277, with Todd Helton leading the category at .318.
-Eight players reaching double-digit home run totals, with Troy Tulowitzki leading the category with 27.
-The team had four pitchers post double-digit wins, with Jorge de la Rosa and Jason Marquis both at 15 wins.
-The five listed starting pitchers for the season posting a combined 4.07 ERA.

One final stat to note for the 2009 season:

-There are 15 games remaining.

Some Rules

The progression and development of this blog has been admittedly slothful quite simply because it remains very...open-ended. So, both for the benefit of the author and reader, I'll occasionally put down some rules for the content and enjoyment of this space:

1.) Author Harold Bloom refers to "The Anxiety of Influence" as the struggle that poets have in becoming Timeless, for he suggests that there are no new ideas. Great was the poet who could, in fact, create something truly original, but many are left struggling with a new way to interpret an older, established idea.

Thoughts or comments that I have may appear here, but please understand that they may not always be strictly mine. I'll cite the source whenever possible, but some things may appear that resulted from massive amounts of media that are ever-circling around and through our heads. Or from a conversation I had when I was ten about Metroid or Thundercats. If, on the off chance that I think I have discovered a completely different Idea or Perspective, you'll know about it. Everything will be highlighted, italicized, and in thick, bold print.

2.) You will never see a post begin with something along the lines of: "You'll Never Guess What Happened To Me Today!" I don't want this to be a diary of any sort. A big, sharp pile of oddly random thoughts and discussions, sure. But you'll not hear about how not having any milk for my morning oatmeal or Cinnamon Toast Crunch has completely ruined my day.

3.) I've become a baseball statistics fiend. So, occasionally, there will be some of that going on here.

4.) My brother once laid down what he thought to be a very important social contract regarding good behavior with strangers, which I shall be following. "You should never talk about Religion, Politics, or UFOs." He may have been all of nine at the time, but even then, a sage.  So, I'll steer clear of that...unless it's something really important. I can't promise that should the Pope ever be abducted by aliens wearing Jimmy Carter masks that I wouldn't mention something about it, even in passing.

Good things for those left waiting

This is troublesome. The entrance into the magical realm of People Who Compose Web Logs, or The Bloggers, seemed so much more exclusive than this vast empty page below. Also, I was admittedly hesitant to ever begin one of these for the following reasons:

1.) Neither my wife nor myself possess the necessary technology to become a regular member of this community. We don't have cellphones, we don't use Facebook or Myspace, Twitter is anathema to us, and our television doesn't have those three fancy A.V. jacks on it.

2.) I don't know enough people to make this exercise beneficial.

3.) No one really gives a damn. They're just bored, or humoring me, or accidentally wound up here due to some Internet Mishap. But more than likely, they're bored.

At any rate, I'll do my utmost to keep this somewhat topical and updated. I'd hate for the one person with the Internet Mishap to get here and not find something clever or puzzling to look at. The Blog may full of empty, pallid, nothingness for some time until I figure things out a bit more, but I will make one promise to anyone reading this:

I will strive with each and every post, update, or comment to not be that guy that people huddle and whisper about when he leaves the room, claiming, "That guy doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground."